Anton Kannemeyer (born 1967) is a South African comics artist, who sometimes goes by the pseudonym Joe Dog. Kannemeyer has lectured the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 ...

Technikon Witwatersrand The Technikon Witwatersrand was a technikon located in Johannesburg, South Africa. On 1 January 2005, it merged with Rand Afrikaans University and the Soweto and East Rand campuses of Vista University to form the University of Johannesburg. The fo ...

, and was also a senior lecturer at the

University of Stellenbosch Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

.The profane world of Anton Kannemeyer - ArtThrob
/ref>

Biography

Anton Kannemeyer was born in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. He studied graphic design and illustration at the University of Stellenbosch, and did a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

degree in illustration after graduating. Together with Conrad Botes, he co-founded the magazine ''Bitterkomix'' in 1992 and has become revered for its subversive stance and dark humor. He has been criticized for making use of "offensive, racist imagery".Denying the privileged a voice - Arts - Mail & Guardian Online
/ref> Kannemeyer himself said that he gets "lots of hate mail from white

Afrikaners Afrikaners () are a South African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: Brain to Cas ...

". His works challenge the rigid image of Afrikaners promoted under

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

, and depict Afrikaners having nasty sex and mangling their

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

. “X is for Xenophobia”, part of his "Alphabet of Democracy", depicts Ernesto Nhamwavane, a Mozambican immigrant who was burnt alive in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

in 2008. Some of Kannemeyer's works deal with the issues of race relations and colonialism, by appropriating the style of

Hergé Georges Prosper Remi (; 22 May 1907 – 3 March 1983), known by the pen name Hergé (; ), from the French pronunciation of his reversed initials ''RG'', was a Belgian cartoonist. He is best known for creating ''The Adventures of Tintin'', ...

’s comics, namely from ''

Tintin in the Congo ''Tintin in the Congo'' (french: link=no, Tintin au Congo; ) is the second volume of ''The Adventures of Tintin'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. Commissioned by the conservative Belgian newspaper for its children's supplemen ...

''. In "Pappa in Afrika", Tintin becomes a white African, depicted either as a white liberal or as a racist white imperialist in Africa. In this stereotyped satire, the whites are superior, literate and civilised, and the blacks are savage and dumb. In "Peekaboo", a large acrylic work, the white African is jumping up in alarm as a black man figure pokes his head out of the jungle shouting an innocuous '

peekaboo Peekaboo (also spelled peek-a-boo) is a form of play played with an infant. To play, one player hides their face, pops back into the view of the other, and says ''Peekaboo!'', sometimes followed by ''I see you!'' There are many variations: for ...

!'Anton Kannemeyer: Fear of a Black Planet at Michael Stevenson - ArtThrob
/ref> A cartoon called "The Liberals" has been interpreted as an attack on white fear, bigotry and political correctness: a group of anonymous black people (who look like

golliwogs The golliwog, also spelled golliwogg or shortened to golly, is a doll-like character – created by cartoonist and author Florence Kate Upton – that appeared in children's books in the late 19th century, usually depicted as a type of rag ...

) are about to rape a white lady, who calls her attackers "historically disadvantaged men".

Bibliography

* ''The Big Bad Bitterkomix Handbook'' (2006) * ''Fear of a Black Planet'' (2008) * ''Bitterkomix 15'' (2008) * ''Alphabet of Democracy'' (2010) * ''Pappa in Afrika'' (2010) * ''Bitterkomix 16'' (2013) * ''Bitterkomix 17'' (2016)

References

External links

Anton Kannemeyer - White Fright , ION MAGAZINE
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kannemeyer, Anton South African comics artists South African artists 1967 births Living people People from Cape Town White South African people